Feeding device of heilmann combing-machine.



J. G. A. WENNING. FEEDING DEVICE 0F HEILMANN QOMBING MAGHINES.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 27, 1909.

Patented Oct. 26, 1909.

JEAN CHARLESALFREDWENNNQ.

WFFNESSES;

ATTORNEY.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JEAN CHARLES ALFRED WENNING, OF MULHAUSEN, GERMANY, ASSIGNOR TO THE FIRM or socinrn ALSAGIENNE DE GONSTRUCTIONS MEoANIoUEs, or MtiLHAUsEN,

GERMANY.

FEEDING DEVICE OF HEILMANN COMBING-MACI-IINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 26, 1909.

Application filed May 27, 1909. Serial No. 498,710.

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, JEAN CHARLES ALFRED WENNING, a subject of the Emperor of Germany, and resident of Miilhausen, Alsace, Germany, have invented new and useful Improvements in the Feeding Device of Heilmann Combing-Machines, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact specification.

In the Heilmann combing machine, the combing of the material is effected, as is known, in the following manner: The tuft protruding from the jaws of the nipper is first combed by the circular comb, and then after the opening of the nipper, the picking or fixed comb picks into the tuft. The tuft which has just been combed is seized by the drawing-0E rollers which draw it off and pull it across the picking comb so that it may be combed over its entire length. The tuft of fiber projecting from the jaws of the nipper and being first combed by the circular comb, is only properly combed at a cer tain distance from the nipper, because the ends of the jaws do not come close enough to the circular comb, which latter only acts with the ends of its teeth, which diminishes the combing effect. As these teeth are of a conical shape, their adjacent surfaces are closer at the bottom than at the points. In order to do away with this drawback the arrangement may be such that the picking comb does not pick immediately in front of the jaws of the nipper, but at such distance from the nipper where the tuft is no longer properly combed. But as the tuft of fiber has no longer by itself a suflicient stiffness to allow, in this case, of a good picking of the picking comb, and as it would yield at such a distance from the nipper, the new Heilmann combing machines have been provided with a movable sheet iron underneath the nipper. This sheet iron underneath the nipper is drawn back under the lower aw during the combing of the head of the tuft;

but before the operation of the picking comb, it moves approximately to the point at which the picking comb has to pick into the tuft of fiber, in order to support the tuft or to give it the necessary resistance, and to thus allow of a good picking of the comb. This auxiliary sheet iron, however, causes a further drawback to arise, that is, it does not allow the fibers to escape from the action of the teeth of the picking comb during the drawing off of the tuft. Now in order to avoid using this sheet iron or auxiliary piece, the feeding device of Heilmann combing ma-v chines has hitherto been arranged so that t after the combing of the head of the tuft and the opening of the nipper, the tuft is caused to partially be drawn back into the nipper in such a manner that the combed part of the tuft of fiber where the picking comb should pick comes very close to the jaws of the nipper. It may be understood that with this arrangement of parts the picking comb may be caused to pick very close to the nipper, the lower jaw of which acts like the aforesaid sheet iron underneath the nipper to support the tuft of fiber. It is understood that the drawing back of the tuft necessitates in these arrangements that the next forward movement of the material must be increased by an amount equal to this drawing back so as to obtain the necessary real feeding movement, that is to say the feeding action required. While all these movements in the actual feeding devices of this class are obtained from the same driv-v ing part, the feeding device for Heilmann combing machines which is the object of the present invention, distinguishes itself in that it comprises in combination with the feeding roller on the one hand, a controlling star wheel having an intermittent motion, connected to the feeding roller by means of toothed wheels and a movable member of planetary motion, and arranged to transmit the usual feeding motion to the feeding roller, that is an intermittent motion, but of always the same direction, and on the other hand a controlling cam, independent of the said star wheel, cooperating with the said movable member of planetary motion and arranged to temporarily give it an alternate forward and backward movement so as to give the feeding roller a supplementary alternate movement, first negative (taking in) and then its corresponding positive complement. The independence between the controlling members for the ordinary feeding movementand the supplementary alternate extra-movement is advantageous in that the amplitude of the latter is independent of of example, an embodiment of the present inventioninasmuch as is necessaryin' order to understand the latter.

Figure 1 shows diagrammatically the feeding device during the combingby the circular comb; Fig. 2 shows the device di-agrammatically during the drawing off; Figs. 3 and 4 are front and side elevations respectively of the controlling members of the device. I

In 'Fig; 1, a-bc indicate the foremost part or head of the tuft of fiber held by the nipper B, C, and which is combed by the circular comb E, but of which the portion a-b next to the nipper is insufliciently combed for the reasons given above.

In-Fig. 2'the nipper B, G has opened and the tuft has been introduced or drawn back into the nipper for a distance about equal to a-bby a reverse movement of'the feeding roller A, so that the picking comb D, movin down close to the nipper, picks intothe tuft at thepoint b which has been brought quite close to-the lower jaw B ofthe nipper. The tuft will then be sufiiciently sustained by this lower jaw. The drawing off of the tuft then taking place, the part ab is. drawn across the picking comb and cleans itself completely.

' The feeding roll which effects on the one hand the feeding proper and on the other hand the supplementary alternate extra-movement, is here supposed to be fixed in space. It receives theordinary forward feeding motion (positive sense) by means of a star wheel 5 which has six teeth and which is mounted on the shaft'A. of the feeding roller. A rotating'disk 6 actuated with a constant speed drives the star wheel 5 by means of a lug 7' onceineach revolution in order to thusgive it an intermittent rotation.

The' star wheel 5 is firmly fixed to a toothed wheel 8 both of which being free on theshaft A? of the feeding roller. I The feeding-roller itself is not shown on Figs. 3 and 4. The wheel or pinion 8 meshes with a toothed wheel 9 whichinits turn is firmly fixed to a wheel or pinion 10 meshing with the'toothed wheel 11 fixed on the'shaft'A of the feeding roller.

-A lever arm 12 loose on the shaft A of the feeding roller is provided with a pin 13 carrying the double wheel 9,10 which inits turn is loose onthe pin 13. This lever arm 12 oscillates under the action of a-rotating cam 14 acting on the roll 15 of a slotted lever 16' pivoted at 17, coupled by a connecting rod '18 to the free end of the lever arm 12. At 19 the connecting rod 18 is adjustable in the slot 20 of the lever 16. The oscillatory movement of the lever arm 12 is transmitted to the-double wheel 9, 10, which is thus caused to execute a partial-planetary movement over the toothed wheels 8, 11. The proportion or'ratioof'the-gears 8-, 9 and 10', 11

aswell as the number ofteeth on the star wheel 5 isto befi-xed according to the importance ofthe feeding necessary and can be changed according to requirements. ;,-The sim le, displacement of the-pin 19 of the connecting rod 18 in the slot 20 of the lever 16 allows the amplitude of the oscillatory movement of the lever arm 12, and consequently that of the planetary movement of the intermediate wheels 9, 10, to be regu lated. This arrangementtherefore permits of'the feeding roller being given a rotation constantly equal tothe algebraic sum of two independent movements that is to say, the movement of rotation of periodical feeding always directed forward and-produced by the star wheel 5 and an oscillatory movement causedby the cam: #14:. A-simple examination of Figs. 3 and 4 is suflicient in order to understand the working of this driving system.

Owing to the intermittent rotation of the star wheel 5 moving only one tooth .at a time (always in the same direction) the shaft A of the feeding roller turns at each movement of the star -whe'el'; 5,: an amount corresponding' to the proportion given by the gearing 8, 9, 10, 11 interposedbetween thestar wheel5 and the shaft A and calculated to obtain the ordinaryidesired feed ing, in order 'to present afresh tuft: of fiber to the circular-comb. According; to :the drawing this'feeding-has'; just taken place.

i The combing of the tuft thus: fed, being effected, the cam 14: turning in the direction ,of the arrow causes the slotted lever 16 to oscillate about the pivot 17 toward the right into the position shown :by' dot and dash lines-in Fig. 4c, the lever arm 12 with the intermediate wheels -9, -10 oscillating/also around-A toward the right into the position shownby dot and dash: lines, by means of the connecting-rod 18. In"this=oscillatory :movement the driven wheel 9 .rollson the driving wheel 8, which latter is held: motion- 1 less by the fact that the smooth periphery 30f the disk Gstops the-star wheel 5. It results that as :the 'wheel* 9 :is rigidly connected to theintermedia-te wheel 10 meshing with the wheel 11 'onitheshaft A this wheel .11 will be, during the rolling of 9 on- 8, moved in the opposite direction to that of I feeding (negative direction), and'the" feed- :ing roller will thus cause a return of-the-tuft to sucha point that the part not properly combed: will be inserted in the nipper which is then open. The picking-of the picking comb and the drawing off across the latter then take place, andafter theseoperations a fresh feeding of the-material takes-place," this feeding being composed on the one hand of a for ward rotating movement ofthe feed- :ing roller -which is exactly equal to the amount that it had turned back during the angular movement-of the lever arm'12 in one direction, and which is now determined by the action of the cam 14: owing to an angular movement of the lever arm 12 in the contrary direction, and on the other hand, of the ordinary feeding movement of the feeding roller caused by the star wheel 5. The angle of oscillation of the lever arm 12 can be varied by the displacement of the connecting rod 18 in the slot 20 of the controlling lever 16.

In all that has been heretofore stated, the shaft A of the feeding roller is supposed to be fixed in space. Now it may be understood that if this shaft had itself an oscillatory movement in space, but concentric to the axis of rotation of the controlling disk 6 of the star wheel 5, the movements stated above would take place nevertheless, that is to say that the shaft A and the feeding roller would always receive a resulting forward movement of rotation which would be I the algebraic sum of the intermittent forward movement caused by the star wheel 5 and of theoscillatory extra-movement caused by the cam 14:.

\Vhat I claim is: I

1. In a feeding device for Heilmann combing machines, of the kind wherein the tuft combed by the circular comb is temporarily drawn back partially into the nipper, the combination with the feeding roller of a rotary star wheel, an intermediate gearing connecting said star wheel to the feeding roller, means for imparting an intermittent movement to said star wheel so as to cause the feeding roller to execute its ordinary intermittent feeding motion always in the same direction, a controlling cam independent of said star wheel and an intermediate mechanism between said cam and the aforesaid connecting gearing, arranged to control the latter under the influence of the said cam so as to cause the feeding roller to execute also a supplementary alternate movement, first backward and then its corresponding forward complement. I

2. In a feeding device for Heilmann combing machines, of the kind wherein the tuft combed by the circular comb is temporarily drawn back partially into the nipper, the combination with the feeding roller of a rotary star wheel, two toothed wheels connected respectively to the star wheel and to the feeding roller, a planetary gear mesh: ing with said toothed wheels, means forimparting an intermittent movement to said star wheel so as to cause the feeding roller, by means of said toothed gearing, to execute its ordinary intermittent feeding motion, always in the same direction, a movable carrier carrying said planetary gear, an oscillating lever connected to this carrier and a controlling cam independent of the said star wheel, arranged to control said lever and carrier so as to temporarily impart to said planetary gear an alternate relative backward and forward movement and to cause thereby the feeding roller to execute also a supplementary alternate movement, first backward and then its corresponding forward complement.

3. In a feeding device for Heilmann combing machines, of the kind wherein the tuft combed by the circular comb is temporarilydrawn back partially into the nipper, the combination with the feeding roller of V a rotary star wheel, two toothed wheels connected respectively to the star wheel and to the feeding roller, a planetary gear meshing with said toothed wheels, means for imparting an intermittent movement to-said star wheel so as to cause the feeding roller, by means of said toothed gearing, to execute its ordinary intermittent feeding motion, always in the same direction, a movable carrier carrying said planetary gear, an oscillating lever adj ustably connected to this carrier and a controlling cam independent of the said star wheel, arranged to control said lever and carrier so as to temporarily impart to said planetary gear an alternate relative backward and forward movement and to cause thereby the feeding roller to execute also a supplementary alternate movement, first backward and then its corresponding forward complement.

In witness whereof I have hereunto signed my name this 14 day of May 1909, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JEAN CHARLES ALFRED WENNING.

Witnesses:

- GEO. GIrFoRo,

AMAIN BARBIE. 

